Computer technology has had an important impact on the dissemination of knowledge, e.g., for entertainment, education and informational purposes. For example, classrooms increasingly are outfitted with computers and Internet connections to facilitate the learning process for students of all ages. Moreover, computer-assisted learning techniques have been developed to facilitate student comprehension of educational subject matter.
In addition, computer technology advances, in particular related to reducing the size and increasing the complexity of electronics, have permitted computers to be packaged into smaller and more powerful devices. Due to such advances, many handheld devices such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's) and the like now have memory capacities and performance comparable to the full size computers of only a few years ago. Among other uses, PDA's and the like can be used by students to store notes, documents, reference materials, class schedules, etc.
Another type of handheld device that has been developed is a dedicated handheld electronic book reader, which attempts to mimic the experience of reading a paper book through the display of electronic information on one or more electronic displays. Electronic documents, often referred to as electronic books, are stored in the readers and displayed one or two pages at a time. Then through selection of next and previous page buttons, a user is able to flip forward and backward through a book in much the same manner as with a paper book.
Some electronic book readers also support additional value-added features, such as permitting a user to underline or highlight text, scribble handwritten notes in the margins and look up definitions of particular words or terms in a dictionary. In addition, some readers are able to calculate reading pace and elapsed time, and provide information such as the time remaining to complete a book based upon the calculated reading pace of a user.
To date, however, handheld electronic book readers and other handheld devices have been mostly utilized for general entertainment or informational purposes, as the devices have not yet achieved a level of pervasiveness suitable for utilization in a classroom or educational context. However, one can envision a day when all students might carry handheld devices upon which are stored their textbooks and other educational materials, particularly given the likely advances in memory capacities and processing performance of handheld devices.
The promise of using handheld devices such as electronic book readers in educational environments, however, demands a rethinking of many basic educational processes. In other areas, computer technology has enabled increased collaboration and information sharing between students, as well as between an instructor and students. However, to date, handheld devices have been predominantly used as stand-alone devices, and have typically been connected to other computers and devices only when it is desired to download new content. Given, however, the additional capabilities of handheld devices, such as the ability to annotate an electronic book via highlighting and note taking, it is believed that a unique opportunity is presented for increased collaboration between the users of handheld devices. Moreover, it is believed that the ability to monitor the usage of a handheld device may present an instructor with the opportunity to obtain valuable feedback regarding students and their usage of particular electronic books.
Therefore, a significant need has developed for improved collaboration and information sharing tools for use in connection with handheld devices, and in particular, handheld electronic book readers and the like used in educational or classroom environments.